


Doggie Collar

by LadyPenn (i_write_a_lot)



Category: White Collar
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, Kidnapping, Minor Character Death, Neal following orders, not Neal's fault, oblivious!Peter, van stealing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-27
Updated: 2013-03-27
Packaged: 2017-12-06 16:48:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/737911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_write_a_lot/pseuds/LadyPenn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal waits in the van like he’s told as Diana, Jones, and Peter all go in together under cover. Being by himself in the van can’t possibly be more boring than it already is, but he’s determined to follow Peter’s orders…of which he’s been giving Neal a lot more orders than usual, treating him almost like a dog. Though there IS a reason for that, as it turns out…</p>
            </blockquote>





	Doggie Collar

**Author's Note:**

> I can't say anything right now about the end of the story. Needless to say, the story took on a mind of it's own once I started writing the obligatory "Neal's kidnapped while in the van" story. 
> 
> The only thing I can say is sorry to those who love Satchmo (and I love Satchmo too)!

“I’m not kidding, Neal-stay here.” Peter said, glowering at him. “I’d have Jones or Diana stay with you, but unfortunately I need them both for this particular suspect. IF you stay here, I’ll see about an reward or something.” Peter added, before ducking out. Neal didn’t even have a chance to respond, though he muttered under his breath, 

“I’m not a dog, Peter. I don’t need an reward for following orders.” Though, Neal admitted quietly to himself, getting a chance to go outside the city for something nice would be…well…worth it.

With the three agents gone, and being alone in the van with nothing to do but wait and listen if Peter and the others needed backup, Neal figured it was going to be rather hellish. 

He decided to text Mozzie, who maybe didn’t have anything going, and was just fishing out his phone, when a guy jerked open the front door to the driver’s seat. Neal blinked. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Neal asked, frowning at him. The guy yelped in startled surprise before jerking around to face Neal-with a small pistol aimed at him. Neal froze, his hand holding his phone in his pocket. 

“What are…what the hell kind of van is this?” The guy asked, baffled at seeing the cameras and things set up. 

“FBI,” Neal answered steadily. “And you’re making a mistake in stealing this van.” Neal could not believe that this was happening. He was actually staying in the van, minding his own business, and someone comes to steal the van. Of course. Neal began texting Peter without looking at the keys, having enough practice at doing it, that he could even do it with sarcasm attached: hey Peter, guess what, the van’s being kidnapped-with me in it.

“Damn,” The van-thief muttered. “All right…come up here where I can keep an eye on you. Into the passangers seat,” He clarified, and Neal reluctantly got up into the passangers seat, nearly banging his head on the way. Now seated across from the van-thief, he pressed himself against the door, hands raised to show he didn’t mean any harm. “Are you a cop?”

“Consultant,” Neal corrected, glancing out the review mirror. He could see Jones jogging towards the van, looking grim. “So they’re going to be quite upset if you kidnap me.” Neal added, hoping to make him see sense. 

“Too bad. They shouldn’t have left their consultant in the van.” He said, and Neal almost laughed at the irony of the guy saying that. “So...will you sit there quietly? Or will I have to ducktape your ass to a chair or something?”

“You won’t have any problems with me.” Neal promised, wincing at the thought of getting tied up again. Peter was going to be pissed, Neal thought.   
Jones opened the backdoor.

“Neal, Peter isn’t happy, if this is some kind of trick-“” Jones began, and then saw the guy holding the gun on Neal. “Shit! Let him go!” Jones said, yanking his gun out and aiming it. 

“Shut the door and back away, or I blow his head off,” The van-thief said darkly, making Neal swallow. This was getting serious. At least now Peter would know that it wasn’t his fault. 

Jones hesitated, and then said, 

“Look, if it’s the van you want, let him out. We’ll let you take the van, okay?” Jones said, and the guy considered, before saying, 

“I would go with that, except that he’s my ticket out of here now. And if I let him go, you will instantly come at me.” 

Neal couldn’t fault the guys logic, really. Except that they’d go after him either way. Jones shook his head earnestly. 

“No, man. The van means nothing to us, but we’ve gotta keep our consultant-their a bit hard to replace, unlike a mere van.” Jones said seriously. “Come on…just let him go,” Jones coaxed, and Neal was impressed with his charm-it was almost as good as his. 

“Damn it, Neal, I thought I told you-what the hell?” Peter saw the standoff going on, and the guy grabbed hold of Neal and dragged him forward, shoving the gun underneath his chin. 

“Back off,” The van-thief growled. “If he’s good, I’ll drop him off at the edge of the city. In the meantime, I’m getting out of here, with this van.” The van-thief stated. 

Peter sighed. 

“You promise to drop him off at the edge of the city?” He asked, sounding grim. 

The man nodded. 

“All right…Neal-don’t do anything stupid. Just sit there quietly.” Peter ordered, and Neal scowled. He was getting sick to death of being ordered around! His scowl must’ve made 

Peter frown, but then it was too late as the van-thief took off, not caring about the open back door, which somehow slammed shut as they drove away.

~*~

Later, Neal was picked up and he decided he wouldn’t speak to Peter for a while. Sure, he’d speak to him on work matters, but he’d ignore him in the meantime. He was sick to death of being treated as though all he did was disobey orders. This wasn’t even his fault this time! 

At least the guy had dropped him off a few blocks away, and not completely out of the city, Neal thought to himself morosely as he worked on paperwork. Neal was startled out of his thoughts when Jones parked down in front of him. 

“You know, Caffrey, if you just talk to Peter, I’m sure he’d apologize for whatever he’s done.” Jones said with a knowing look as he handed over a cup of coffee of which Neal accepted gratefully. 

“I’m not speaking to him right now.” Neal said, aware he sounded like a teenager but not able to help it. He really was ticked off at Peter. 

“Yeah. I get it. Boss can sometimes be oblivious,” Jones said with a roll of his eyes. “Still, just talk to him. Sooner rather than later.” Jones suggested, and Neal shrugged. Jones sighed and went over to hand out the rest of the coffee and Neal returned to work, studying the latest batch of paperwork, even as he thought over talking to Peter. 

Maybe he’d talk to El first, and see if he could pick up any pointers.  
~*~

It wasn’t until the end of the week however that Peter finally caught onto the fact that Neal wasn’t speaking to him (besides work related issues that couldn’t be helped, and in passing on messages to El as she would ask if he’d want to go to dinner with them or something). Neal was busy in his office, still doing paperwork as he pondered the situation, when Peter stuck his head in.

“Can I come in?” He asked, sounding uncomfortable. Neal wondered if Diana or Jones had pointed out to him what was going on, and Neal sighed.

“Sure,” He muttered, not looking up from his desk. Peter came in and sat across from him. 

“Neal…I’m sorry.” Peter said, sounding sincere. Neal blinked and looked up, not expecting that. “Jones and Diana both told me how much of a enormous prat I’ve been being,   
and…well, I guess I shouldn’t have been quite so rude.” Peter said apologetically. 

“Uh-huh. You realize that instead of trying to rescue me from that van, you basically told me to just ‘sit and be a good boy’. That’s ALL you’ve been saying lately, Peter. You’ve been treating me as though I’m your dog or something.” Neal accused, and Peter winced.

“Yeah…I guess I have been,” Peter said glumly. “Look…there’s an explanation for that, and I know it’s not-not exactly right, but…” He paused. “Satchmo is dying,” He admitted, quietly. “El’s torn up about it, and I guess I am too, but buried the feelings and took it out on you instead.”

Neal paled. He’d loved that dog, even though he rarely saw Satchmo. The dog looked a bit old for his years, but Neal never thought of him dying…

“Jeez, Peter. No wonder you’ve been so uptight lately.” Neal blurted out before he could stop himself. “I mean…” He quickly apologized. 

“No, I deserve that,” Peter said ruefully, shaking his head sadly. “I-I hadn’t realized how cruel I was being towards you Neal. I really do apologize, and you had every right to give me the silent treatment.” Peter said with a forced chuckle. 

Neal sighed. 

“Look, I’m sorry. If I’d known it was that personal-“”

“You didn’t know. It’s fine. Look…how about you come over to dinner? We’re taking Satchmo to the park for a midnight walk, as he really loves those. El’s going to be there too.”   
Peter suggested. 

“How long does Satchmo have?” Neal wondered. 

“The doctors said anywhere from three months to a year-it depends on how strong Satchmo is,” Peter said quietly. 

Neal sighed.

“Yeah. I’ll go. I’m going to ask Mozzie to come too, Mozzie loves dogs.” Neal told him. “Tell El I’m sorry. Had I known what was really going on, of course I would’ve come for dinner the other night.”

Peter shook his head. 

“I’ll let her know. And I AM sorry Neal.” He added, before leaving the office. Neal watched him go, and felt as though there was a distinct sadness in the way that Peter moved now that he hadn’t noticed before. 

Poor Peter…

\--  
That night, around midnight, they were with Peter and El in the park, and Mozzie and June were both there too. Satchmo knew them all, and all of them played fetch, gave him treats, and he even got an entire steak to himself. 

The entire group kept coming (even people from White Collar came to see him off, like Hughes, Diana, Jones, and Cruz) to see Satchmo in his final days. 

A month after Peter apologized to Neal, Satchmo died quietly in his sleep.

He was discovered by Peter, and Peter swore that he could see that Satchmo was still smiling.   
~*~

End


End file.
